Concorde Delta Golf's Brooklands journey
After British Airways ceased Concorde operations on 24th October 2003, Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, Surrey, made an unsuccessful bid to acquire one of the seven BA fleet. More than 30% of each of the 20 Concordes built were manufactured by the British Aircraft Corporation at their Weybridge factory during the 1960s and 1970s and the site's unique historical association with the type was the prime reason for the museum's ambition to acquire an example for its aviation collection. Soon after their failed bid, however, it was announced that Brooklands were in negotiations to have Concorde G‑BBDG loaned to the museum instead.
Although classed as a production standard aircraft, G‑BBDG, or 'Delta Golf' as the aircraft is more commonly known, never saw airline service but, along with French Concorde F‑WTSB, she did the bulk of the flying that allowed the final certification of Concorde for airline service, as well as being used to train the early British Airways flight crews. Having accumulated 1282 flying hours - of which 514 were supersonic - DG last flew on Christmas Eve 1981, whereafter the aircraft then went into storage. DG was kept serviceable throughout early 1982 so that she would be available for any further development work or test flights, however, no such flights were ultimately required.
On 1st April 1984, DG was purchased by British Airways as part of the Concorde buyout from the UK Government and the aircraft soon became a major source of spares to keep their Concorde fleet serviceable. To protect DG from the elements, a purpose-built hangar was constructed to house her at Filton. The building was designed for the aircraft to be stored minus the tail fin, which effectively halved the cost of the structure. The hangar became known as the '202' hangar and was completed in early 1988; with DG being moved inside in May of that year. In late 2001, G-BBDG was temporarily moved to the Brabazon Hangar for test fitting of new strengthened cockpit doors (required by the aviation authorities after September 11th 2001) and also to facilitate escape slide trials.
In late October 2003, British Airways formally offered Concorde G‑BBDG on loan to Brooklands for restoration and display. In early 2004, work began to remove all the parts from Delta Golf that could simply be unbolted. This included the outer and forward wing sections, the tail cone and the engine intakes. Then, in April 2004, DG was towed out of her hangar at Filton ahead of contractors Air Salvage International coming on site to cut her into five main sections for the journey to Brooklands. This was necessary due to Highways Agency width restrictions for loads carried on UK roads.
By early June 2004, after much organisation and planning, all the disassembled sections of DG's airframe had been safely transported the 125 miles by road to the museum. Ahead of this, much of the necessary Concorde ground equipment and tooling had already arrived at Brooklands with the assistance of British Airways Engineering. This was soon followed by more than 40 truck loads of crates and boxes from both Filton and Heathrow containing Concorde parts and spares. Then began a two year long process that began with ASI reassembling DG structurally and then a team of over a hundred volunteers worked to transform the aircraft from a derelict shell into the exhibit now on display.
The restoration of DG was a "Million Pound Project" that helped to secure her long-term future and placed her on display alongside other existing museum aircraft such as the VC10, Vanguard, Viscount and Varsity - all of which were also designed and built at the Weybridge site. Opened to the public in July 2006 by the museum's Royal Patron; HRH Prince Michael of Kent, Delta Golf is the only Concorde in the Southeast of England that is open to visitors.
2024 marked two important anniversaries for Delta Golf. Firstly, it was 50 years since her maiden flight in February 1974. Secondly, it was 20 years since she had arrived in pieces at Brooklands. DG is still a hugely popular attraction at the museum and the Brooklands Concorde Experience offers a unique opportunity to visit this fantastic aircraft at the place where the first UK meeting between Great Britain and France to discuss Concorde took place and where more than 30% of every Concorde airframe - British and French - was manufactured. If you would like to visit Delta Golf at Brooklands, click here for details.
Concorde model 'G-CONC' is also on display at Brooklands...
The famous 40% scale Concorde model 'G‑CONC' that adorned the roundabout at Heathrow Airport for nearly 20 years was donated to Brooklands Museum by British Airways in 2007. Having been disassembled and transported to the museum in March of that year, the model was then reassembled by the volunteer team at Brooklands and completely restored. On 29th Spetember 2012 G‑CONC was moved to a permanent location at the entrance to the museum and neighbouring Mercedes-Benz World. For more details of the project, click here.
